If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the forum FAQ and the House Rules and Forum Guidelines.
You will have to register before you can post. If you find your registration is rejected, please try again using a different username. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

New era - Club info - While it's nice to have a new stadium it's a bit extravagent while we still play in the National. Season tickets haven't gone up and so far attendanes haven't gone up much.

Into the second half of the season (cue inevitable end of season poor form) but have got the dreaded takeover talks, on the plus side, if it happens and I keep my job the debts will be wiped out, some to spend will be nice too.

Well done StellaF1, good progress, good luck in Serie B.
Good luck in Germany with Leipzig Andy Sava, definately a sleeping giant with that stadium. Hope you get supplied with free Red Bull.
Unlucky in the play-offs Almondo, an imprvement next season will see you up.
Good survival skills PRDH, the hard part is improving your squad while in debt.

England manager just been sacked on my game, just noticed this final paragraph"

"With CVs flooding in from would-be managers across the country, Man Utd manager Andre Villas Boas is the most likely candidate. Presumably once England have got rid of the usual 'Football Manager' applications, they can proceed with the view to appointing someone with real-life experience."

I don't know whether it's said that every time someone's been sacked from England, but it's the first time I've noticed.

Almondo - Unlucky. Going for top 2 next season to avoid playoffs all together?Andy Sava - Good luck in Germany!berty1978 - Sounds like you're having the exact same experience as me in that division atm. Tons of goals conceded and sudden loss of form. Hope you can push into that top 3 this season! Crossing fingers for a good winter break. minisav - Good luck!StellaF1 - Congrats on promotion. Must have been a good feeling to get that sending off and goal before half time in the playoff final. Avoiding the usual nail biting at that stage. Good luck at the next level!

Second Division
All season, we were up at the top of the table. Our free-scoring attacking line-up brought plenty of goals and meant we knew we would always have a chance to outscore our opponents. On the downside, this meant we were vulnerable at the back and our leaky defence costs us points from time to time. Crazy scorelines like 5-2, 7-1, 8-4 and 5-5 became a regular occurrence as we banged in a whopping 111 goals and conceded 54 in our 34 matches. 1461 Trabzon were the only team able to stay in touch with us and ultimately, it would come down to the last day of the season with us two points ahead at the start of play. We did the business though in typically emphatic fashion with a 5-0 win (and a rare clean sheet!) over Bingöl to secure top spot and send us up automatically!Final Group B Table

Turkish Cup

The first two rounds were simple enough to negotiate as we were drawn at home against teams from the (unplayable) 3rd Division. Our cup adventure came to an end in the 3rd round when we lost at home 1-0 (one of only three games throughout the season in which we failed to score) to 2nd Division Group A side Bucaspor. A shame we lost that game as progression would have meant a money-spinning 4th round home tie with Beşiktaş…

The Squad: Transfers

A few new youngsters were added in January to go along with those signed last summer. Most of the departures were fringe players with high wages, and a few more will join them this summer. Overall, I was happy with the depth of the squad but we definitely need two new full-backs ahead of our 1st Division campaign.Transfer summary

The Squad: Key Players

Sinan Meriç (DM) – a great signing last summer, who settled in to the first team straight away. He played like a veteran rather than a 19 year-old and looks set to be a key player for us for a few seasons yet.Alican Karadağ (MC) – started the season as 3rd choice in central midfield but soon established himself in the starting XI and finally realised his potential. He had a hand in so many of our attacking moves and I’ll be looking for more of the same next season.Uğur Yanıkdemir (AMR) – started the season in sensational form with goals and assists aplenty. His form dipped a bit towards the end of the season but overall, he had a great first year at the club.Berkin Arslan (AML) – Uğur’s dip in form towards the end of the season didn’t matter too much as this guy was sensational in the title run-in. 10 of his 15 goals came in the last 7 games and I hope he can carry that form over the summer break.Yaser Hacimustafaoğlu (ST) – We wouldn’t have done it without this guy who often won us games on his own. The goals dried up a little after he picked up a minor injury late in the season but he’ll be back to full fitness when the new season starts.

The Squad: Ones to Watch

Sinan Bayer had a couple of promising runs in the side, grabbing the goals when called upon. His game time was reduced a little by the arrival of another young striker, Osman Özvardar, who also got amongst the goals.

Görkem Çelik arrived in January and impressed in his first team outings. He should get more game time on the right wing next season as should defensive midfielder Egemen Şekerkaya, a 16 year-old who has received high praise from my coaches.

I have now signed a new two-year deal, tripling my wages from 400TL to 1,200TL per week. Unfortunately, the transfer and wage budgets look set to be tight again as the prize money for winning promotion was just enough to get us out of the red.
The main aim will be survival. Anything else will be a bonus!

Takeover complete, kept my job, wasn't too worried in the end. The nice new chairman cleared the debt and an extra £110k in the account, only two weeks later he reminds me the £700k loan repayments are £4.1k pm until 2041, thanks.

Well done on promotion DodgeeD, good luck next season.

League table with 2 games to go, form all season has been patchy, in a way don't deserve to go up but I'd take a scrappy promotion any day. I was actually tempted to restart the challenge with newly promoted Calais at the start of the season.

After a good period ending with beating En Avant de Guingamp 7-1 away from home we've now lost 4 and drawn 1 in the last 5, conceding 12 in the process. Back to our usual self. Luckily our goal scoring have given us enough points to still be well clear of relegation.

We started off brilliantly, carrying on our form from the pre season. We went unbeaten for the first thirteen games including some spectacular wins like 4-0 over Sabadell to start the season and 5-2 over Espanyol "B". The first team to beat us were our bogey team Logrones (they beat us twice last year), immediately followed by our second loss of the season against Cornella. We picked up the form after those two losses and the subsequent draw against Athletic "B" and forced our way into second behind apparently unstoppable Real Sociedad "B". We went on a long unbeaten run until Eibar beat us in a 3rd vs 2nd clash. After that we continued winning and managed to secure a play-off spot with three games to go. At that point we were still behind Real Sociedad "B", but a win against Osasuna "B" put us on top. Worryingly, we lost against Real Union in the next match, but fortunately Real Sociedad "B" lost as well and we kept the top spot. In the last match fans flocked to see us and we didn't disappoint them beating Llagostera 3-0. We were champions.

Our league win sent us directly into the 1st Phase Semi Final where we were drawn against Cordoba. We drew the away leg 2-2. That result meant they had to win or draw with at least three goals. In the home leg we beat them convincingly as they looked for the goal and exposed their defence. The 3-1 win meant we were 5-3 on aggregate and through to the playoff final.

In the playoff final we face Real Oviedo with the first leg at Lasesarre. Danobeitia scored in the 62nd minute, but they pegged us back after four minutes. Not for long, however as Iosu Esnaola headed in in the 70th minute.

In the away leg we started off strongly with Esnaola opening the score after 21 minutes. Oviedo came into the second half looking changed and they managed to equalise and take the lead. We held on to the score despite Etxebarria getting himself sent off and went into exta time. A man down in extra time didn't sound promising but Oviedo somehow managed to score two(!) own goals. We held on to the 5-3 aggregate score by the skin of our teeth and managed to keep them from scoring again. We're going to play in the Liga Adelante next season!

Our first cup match was against Tudelano, who we dispatched with goals by Danobeitia and Valin. Next up was Poli Ejido who opened the score after two minutes, before Danobeitia equalised to send us into extra time where Esnaola proved to be the difference between us and them. In the Third Round we faced the same Sabadell we had beaten 4-0 in the league opener. They were vengeful and an injury to Valin left us light at the back and they duly scored in the 79th minute. We didn't manage to get back into the match which was unfortunate since they faced Valencia in the Fourth Round.

Unai Alba - The main man in goal performed well, but he is on a steady physical decline and his lack of agility led him to concede a few goals.

Julen Zelaia - Played backup this year, but will be starter next year as he improves and Alba declines.

Defenders

Joseba Zaldua - The rightback from Real Sociedad did better than his leftback counterpart. I'll look to sign him on a permanent basis for next season.

Jon Manuel - His mistakes cost us quite a few points. In one match he conceded two of the three penalties our opponents got. He'll go back to Real Sociedad who probably won't renew his contract.

Jose Maria Gabilondo - The youndster didn't do badly in his second season with us, but he probably won't get much better than he is already.

Josu Etxaniz - Signed as backup he ended up playing quite a few matches as both Esnaola and Valin spent parts of the season injured.

Iosu Esnaola - Our star centreback. He scored 7 goals including two in over the two legs against Oviedo.

Alfonso Valin - Started of very brightly, but tailed off after an injury. Still scored two goals and created another.

Xabier Etxebarria - He was signed to add depth, but ended up getting sent off in the 85th minute of the playoff final and wouldn't apologise after I fined him. He'll be on his way out in no time.

Midfielders

Eneko - Was backup DM contributing to four goals. Won't get his contract renewed as I don't think he's good enough for the step up.

Jon Errasti - Played very well as starting DM and also contributed to four goals.

Alex Quintanilla - Was supposed to be one of the starting central midfielders, but a three month injury dropped him down the rankings. Upon his return he didn't play well enough to get his contract renewed.

Jon Ander Garrido - The other starting central midfielder. He did very well, finishing the season with four goals and nine assists.

Igor Gabilondo - The superstar brought in from Athletic did very well, despite being injured for ten weeks. He created eight goals and scored two himself in thirteen starts.

Nestor Salinas - The youngster was initially way down in the pecking order, but injuries to the players ahead of him got him his chance to shine, which he took with both hands scoring four times as well as assisting another eleven. Still has tonnes of potential according to my coaches.

Enrique Martinez - This was supposed to be his season, especially when Quintanilla got injured, but it wasn't to be as he got injured himself the next match. When he returned Salinas was an established star and he didn't manage to Martinez didn't manage to take the starting place off him. Still, the Barakaldo youth player contributed to four goals.

Imanol Mentxaka - Another who won't get his contract renewed. Despite scoring three and creating six he looked off the pace and the team played much better without him.

Forwards

Mikel Danobeitia - The star of last season scored 22 and created another ten. It was a bit of a struggle to get him to sign a new contract, but we eventually managed to agree. He is also a favoured personnel and loves the club.

Noe Metzger - The surprise of the season. He started the season brilliantly creating and scoring each more than one a game. He requested a new contract, which I was happy to promise to him, but when when I couldn't agree terms due to his agent's ridiculous demands he requested a transfer. I accepted the transfer request and he continued starring. He finished the season with 29 assist and 22 goals in 43 matches for an average rating of 7.70.

Juan Dominguez - Did well, scoring 19 and assisting 5 which was the least I could expect for his wages.

Ricardo Casado - Another surprise this season the youngster I picked up on a free last year began developing into a fearsome targetman and his "shoots with power" PPM allowed him to score nine goals. His potential has ranged from 2.5 to 3.5 stars, but if he continues to improve I can't see why he shouldn't become a good Liga Adelante striker.

Finances - The cup run didn't happen and we only stayed at the same level of debt as last season because the board invested £500k twice. Hopefully it'll improve with the extra money next season.

Aims for Last Season

-Get better players in and get rid of deadwood.
-Improve on 9th position.
-Sort out those finances.

League/Graph (Finished 7th)
Well i have to say this season was pretty unexpected after the first half of it (check the graph). I went on a streak of 14 games without winning at one point too, so to finish 7th was great.

7th place meant i was into the European Play-off places, first team i was battered by overall, which i'm pretty sure meant the play-off game i played in, meant nothing as i wasn't giving a place in Europe. Thought i'd worked the system out, clearly not.

Turkish Cup (Lost in Quarter Finals)
Went a bit better than last time round getting to the Quarters and only just losing to Galatasaray.

Transfers
Once again no big mentions as nobody really stood out as being great, but altogether it seemed to work quite well. Surprised with thesetwo though, thought they would have scored more.

Also i have more players coming in already, but a striker is the priority once the new season starts.

Overall
Overall a good season, specially as at Christmas i was expecting the worst. If i can get in a decent enough striker i could probably get into Europe.

Football Manager isn't life or death ... It's far more important than that!

Posts

2,501

Congrats on the promotion Romanista, alot of goals in that division, is that the norm for Spain?

Guess you wont be signing Ayala or Perninha permanent then Charlesbeams!? Massive end to the season for you, awesome work on winning Manager of the Year. Your finances are looking good, money comes in by the bucket load doesn't it in the Turkish Prem!?

Cheers. I know how the teams progress and what not, just not sure how they get a euro place. I'm sure a team last season got one from winning in the play-off bit i was in. Maybe it has something to do with reputation or more wins or soemthing.

Originally Posted by brettney1980

Guess you wont be signing Ayala or Perninha permanent then Charlesbeams!? Massive end to the season for you, awesome work on winning Manager of the Year. Your finances are looking good, money comes in by the bucket load doesn't it in the Turkish Prem!?

Cheers. Very unlikely, i think maybe getting in an older striker might help, i always seem to bring in young ones.

Yeah, you end up with about £4m from TV, and then £350k for winning a game, 3 wins a month and you have £1m

Congrats on the promotion Romanista, alot of goals in that division, is that the norm for Spain?

I don't know much about the Segunda B irl, but at the top there's plenty of goals for some teams.

Edit - I went and had a look at the current Segunda B2 league table and 11 games in there are fewer goals than in my save. After eleven games the highest scorers have 20 goals which wouldn't come close to the scores in my save after 38 matches

Charlesbeams some real progress there, but by the time you'll have figured out the qualification process you'll be champions and won't need to do playoffs (unless of course the system is different from what I imagine).

I knew I possesed a reasonably strong squad and expected to do much better than media predicted. I was correct in my prognosis, but the season still left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Acqui's campaign kicked off in bad form, but after som tweaks to the tactic I employ, results improved markedly. In December Acqui were 2nd in the league and practically oblitarated league leaders and eventual champions Cittadella away, although the result was only 1 – 2 (Cittadella scored the one shot they had). It looked like I could have a chance to even win the whole league, but from January onwards Acqui's form worsened, and in the end the team found itself on the 4th place. Playoffs didn't go well and Reggiana defeated me in the semis. Also Milazzo kicked Acqui out of Serie C Cup in the 1st round, so I played only one game in that competition.

For a C1 team Acqui did really well in the Italian Cup reaching the 4th qualifying round by winning Crotone (C1), Varese (B) and Atalanta (A). Finally Livorno (B) were able to overcome Acqui, but only after penalties.

Federico Laurito
Youngish ST and my best goalscorer. Was very consistent throughout the season.

Ciro Immobile
I expected a lot more from this ST. In fact I expected him to score 20 goals or more, but he only managed 9 in the league. A symptom of difficulties I have been having with penetrating opposition defences instead of trying to rely on ineffective longshots.

Cristiano Biraghi
Former Inter DL. He had the highest avg in my squad – a good season from him.

Emanuele Suagher
Young DC who ended the season with the most appearances. Usually very consistent, but sometimes makes cardinal errors and ends his game with an abysmal rating.

Remarks

Debts are amounting. The club is £575K in detb. Total allowed player wage budget for the season was £7,847, and I managed to keep my spending below it despite making some major signings. In this respect the next season does not look as rosy, as the board has lowered the wage budget to only about £6K and I have already arranged transfers that are sure to increase wage expenditure.

The exciting news is that Acqui are going to move to a new stadium within approximately a year. When the board announced it and I noticed the name of the new stadium was to be merely modelled after the clubs short name (Acqui Stadium – the club has no legends), I used lnc-file to temporarily change the short name and loaded a save from before the stadium move news. So insted of moving to mundanely named Acqui Stadium, the club is now building a stadium with at least a little bit more character - Acquedotto Stadium. I think Sassari Torres' stadium used to also be called Acquedotto, but there are remains of an old Roman aqueduct just next to Acqui Terme, so maybe I can imagine the new stadia will be somewhere in the vicinity of this relic. What remains to be seen, is what happens to Acqui's financial situation when the club has to begin repaying the loan taken to build the stadium. A move from a stadium of 1 500 to one with a capacity for 8 725 is welcome though, as the old arena is packed in every game (97% avg by capacity in the league).

A splendid first season culminating in a 14 point lead at the top, although it was much closer than that just 5 games before. We got to 1st place in the league in the last match before the winter break, and never lost it. The january signings of Roussel and Millet proved to be far too good for this league. Thanks for them Clairefontaine

This summer saw another mini clear out as 11 players waved goodbye to Novese. Incoming saw 7 players all arrive on free transfers. The aim was obviously to get this squad up to Serie C1 standards.

New Men:

Marco Marcandelli (GK) -I needed a new goalkeeper, or at least a 2nd goalkeeper as our backup from last year left the club. I hadn't initially intended on signing a new number 1 but this guy was available and is rated highly. He'll start as number 1.

Jean Mbida (D/WBL) - We were without a left back in the squad, so filling this position was a priority. Mbida looks to be very good at this level and will most certainly be first choice at left back.

Alessandro Polinesi (D/WBL) - He has competition from Polinesi though, who also looks strong at this level. We now have good depth for the left flank.

Michele Pini (DRC) - Pini was signed to be backup to the two center backs but it's transpired that he is now the best RB at the club. This means I'll be looking to move on our 3rd choice in this position ASAP to save on wages.

Cosmo Palumbo (DM/MC) - Palumbo gives further defensive stability in the midfield. We allowed a mainstay of CM leave this summer but fortunately Palumbo looks to be an upgrade.

Massimo Cianci (DM/MC/ML) - This 18 year-old excited the fans on his arrival. He brings some quality to CM but also gives me the option of playing wingers with him on the left.

Marcello Rosati (MC/AMC/L) - Another option on the left could be Rosati, who at just 16 years old already looks set for a good future at Novese. First impressions remind me of Natale at 16 - hopefully he'll develop just as well.

Thanks Berty and Ohanzee. I am aiming for top two this season despite my best striker being sold.

DodgeeD - Great season there.Carlesbeam - Good season there what with finishing in a Euro playoff placeRomanista - Welcome to the Liga Adelante, where you'll manage to actually make a profit.duccio - God season, unlucky on missing out on promotionel sid - Great season there, well done on winning the league.

The League
Best goal scoring in the league. 3rd worst defense. Amazing that we can gather so many points with 4 drunk monkeys in our back four. Very pleased with the position all that considered.

We're overachieving big time I'd say. Considering other teams have players like Mattia Destro scoring 40 goals a season, and we still manage to finish in front of them. He wants to move to a bigger club, and I really hope they sell him. ******* put 5 past us in the two meetings we had.

The Cups (french cup | Coupe de la Ligue)
Coupe came to soon, that's my excuse and I'll stick with it. French Cup I only have myself to blame for sending out 11 backup players.

GoalkeepersRoland Toure - Only mentioning him as he's the biggest talent of the 3, and the only one likely to stay next season. Frick has already signed for Zürich.

DefendersMoussa Boubacar - I had high hopes for him, but he never really took his chance. Has potential, but not looking like he wants to reach it atm.Jacopo Galimberti - Good again, but he doesn't look like he has potential to improve any more.Federico Micheli - More of a backup this season, but did well. Still improving.Dennis Schröder - New guy and very strong. Can improve. Sadly broke his foot and is still out for 2 (of 4) months.Vicenzo Ficarelli - Good talent, but not probably to old to ever reach his potential now.Kenny Lala - Main man on the right back. Decent enough, won't improve much.Jason Bli - Left back backup. He's got more potential than Ippolito. Not sure either of them will bring us glory though.Ivano Ippolito - Main man on the other side. Can still improve, but unlikely to ever be amazing.Mehmet Öztürk - Right back with good potential. Had high hopes, but he never settled in. Transfer listed after he kept moaning about wanting to go home after being given a leave of absence once already.

AttackersIvaylo Ignatov - One of the new signings I was the most excited about. Had to retrain him to striker (competent around Christmas). He has a huge ego, and sees the club as a stepping stone. I doubt he'll ever be a Messi or Ronaldo though.Marco Rocchi - Same as Ignator, still waiting on him to retrain to a striker though. Guess he's not as adaptable. But he could be a good one once he's competent in the role I think.Tchanile Tidjani - Considering just selling him. He's constantly moaning and doesn't seem to improve much now.Robert Hlinka - The big star this season scoring 26 goals. Geoffrey Malfleury - He keeps scoring goals, but doesn't at all look good enough at this level imo.Samir Muhovic - Had hoped he'd to better to be honest.Dominik Melka - Same as Muhovic.

Not much top quality in there to be honest, so I'm really pleased we managed such a high position. Still amazed at how we can concede so many goals when our 4 main defenders have such a decent avg. rating though. Also pleased that we got goals from all over the pitch, but would like at least one more striker to be as consistent as Hlinka was.

The Club
Finances are ok, not amazing by any means though. We're the worst club in the division in almost all respects (salary, transfer spend, avg. attendance, etc). Our avg. attendance did increase to 1,994 this season, but that's still really bad imo.

The Future
We need a better goalkeeper, and several options in midfield. Probably could do with some improvement in all parts of the team though tbh. I already secured several players on bosman deals in January, including 3 midfielders. A few of them have potential to be leading Ligue 1 players according to my scouts. I'm especially excited about this kid, John Biyogho Poko, who has 5 star potential and is said to be similar to Yann M'Vila for those that know him. He's also French, which is good. Sadly my scout says he's got problems with injuries, and looking at his history he does have a lot of minor ones. But I think he's worth the risk, costing nothing.

Romanista - Welcome to the Liga Adelante, where you'll manage to actually make a profit.

I like.

duccio - Next season you'll go up with a stronger squad. el sid - Very good season. And Clairefontaine is , they just produced a Basque youngster (who doesn't want to join me).iacovone - Nice signings, Cianci and Rosati look like they could become very good in a few years.Ohanzee - That's a very good first season in L2, especially if you have beasts like Destro playing there.

Though I made the Portuguese lower divisions look easy, the German second division was not so easily overcome, in fact we hovered in the lower table for the entirety of the season, drifting in and out of the relegation zone, though a good stretch of form near the end saw us retain our division. A frustrating season, as some games we would get played absolutely off the park, only to be saved by our heroic keeper, Mark Voss. Defense was woeful, we had exactly one good striker, only a few midfielders that I trusted. In short the players from the 3rd division were absolutely not up to the task of the 2. Bundesliga. Cannot count how many last minute goals we gave up. Frustrating

League : We survived in an extremely tight league where there was about 8 teams that could have been relegated. Nerve-racking.

Cup : We got to the second round of the cup before going out to Dresden...who made it to the finals before losing on penalties to Hoffenheim

Key Players:Voss : Though the stats don't show, he was outstanding. Oper : The 36 year old striker was our only real goal threat. Which is sad. Is retiring at the end of the year, and I'll look to add him to the coaching staffUzun : Those with a keen eye might recognize Uzun from my Viseu save. He came in around January and was one of the bright spots on the teamKarli : A good, solid midfielder.

The rest were frankly pathetic

Transfers : A bunch in, few made an impact.
Special note goes to Sidy Sagna, who played 1 friendly, was injured for 3 months, and spent the next 2 complaining of homesickness, before having the gall to ask for a transfer because he wasn't in the first team. YOU WERE NEVER AVAILABLE TO BE PICKED.. ARGH. Will be glad to be rid of him.Finances : Surprisingly strong, though we are in debt thanks to the new stadium that will be in place for next year
Youth : Dire

Confirmed in for next yearRakels - Latvian striker that maybe can provide some goals after Oper retiresBogovic - Have high hopes for this 16 year old Croatian

The home grown prospectWagner : Continues to progress, was going to give him more playing time, but when mired in a relegation fight, had to play those that gave us the best chance of winning. Possibly in the 1st team next season

Next Season : Squad needs a big clear out, and I'm hoping the board will give us funds to revamp the squad. Only GK is a place of strength right now. Hopefully avoid a relegation scrap and find a way into mid table.

iacovone - Wage Budget: £17,676 p/w in C1. I have to get by with £6K p/w. I'm actually paying out £8,4K though...Ohanzee - Poko looks otherwise excellent, but is in need of some physical punishing in form of weight training. Romanista1994 - I have improved my squad and everything looks promising, but the club goes £90K more into debt every month.

So at the end of January the table shows us in the middle of the pack. we started well and were unbeaten for the first 6 games but then we suffered a few injuries and our form has been affected as we have slipped down the league a little. in a bid to halt our slide and push back up the table i have had a squad reshuffle and without further ado here are the new Buben boys:

Defenders

Mattia Desole - Young Swiss LB signed after his release by AC Milan. those of you with a memory may remember him from my Messina save last year. i have high hopes for him.Lukas Spendlhofer - Austrian defender released by Inter Milan. Like Desole i had him at Messina last year. Another i have high hopes for.

Midfielders

14. Mads Laudrup - Mads was signed in October to add some quality to my midfield. started slowly but is beginning to develop in his performances.Oliver Norwood - Oliver is a Northern Irishman signed after his release by Manchester United. He did well in my January friendlies when on trial and he earned himself a permanent deal.

Strikers

Nicolao Dumitru - Nicolao is an Italian / Romanian striker released by Napoli. has good quality already and can only get better. the fans are excited by his signing.

So there are the new guys. i think i have improved the quality of the squad overall and hopefully the performances show that. time will tell.

Football Manager isn't life or death ... It's far more important than that!

Posts

2,501

Well done on the survival Amythest21.
Sitting nicely at Mid-Table and safety rlipscombe 2 awesome midfield signings there in Norwood and Laudrup, i tried to get Laudrup on my game but couldn't afford his wage demands so well done.

Unlucky duccio. Next season for sure!
Brilliant 1st season el sid, congrats on the promotion!
Good luck in the season a head iacovone!
Tough season there Amethyst21. Good job staying up in the end. Hope you can fight at the other end of the table next season.
Good luck in the 2nd half rlipscombe. Some well known names there. Think I've seen at least 4 of the 5 in my own teams at some point. Norwood is a hero for me, but doesn't look as good this time around. Looks like he's been ignoring his physical training in favor of some big macs, but he's got some real quality if he don't have to move around much.

Attracting talent is restricted mainly to young players who already had low wages before they signed for me. So far that has not been an overwhelming problem, because every season there have been some reasonbly good youngsters whose contracts were running out. Offering biggish bonuses and all possible clauses is a must. Its very important to try to sign players on bosman, because they lose interest in my club the moment they become free agents. Also since there is no air in my wage budget, I've had to free transfer players a few weeks before their contracts were running out/they were retiring, to be able to free some wages for new players (who I had to sign before they left their previous clubs).

But I must say I'm pretty happy with the squad I've been able to assemble. In team comparison I have at least one best team rating in every compartment (all positions/keepers/defence/midfield/attack), so I cannot complain. Not surprizingly I have the youngest squad in C1/A (21.75 in January) aswell. Not surprisingly I'm also £1M in debt now.

Magano - We were still weak in midfield so 36 year old Magano was signed to bring some mental toughness and experience. He played in nearly every game and was reliable and kept a cool head.

Goncalo Paciencia - Only played in 8 games from the subs bench, he scored once this season but will hopefully improve.

Jorge Carvalho - Another one for the future I hope, he made 12 appearances as the anchor man and did fine.

Diego Lopes - Identified by my scouts. I wasn't looking for an AMC but he's the best player I'd seen so far so I signed him up and rebuilt the tactics around him. So glad I did !

Jaguare - Was spotted after local reports said he was arriving for a trial at Electrico, another 2D club. I sent the spies to a training session and stole him from under their noses. Scored 5 goals in 6 (9) appearances since January, one of them a crucial winner against the league leaders.

Season Report by Paulo Pestana of the Pamilhosa FC magazine

We all love football because of it's ability to surprise us with unexpected results, and few expected the meteoric rise of F.C. Pampilhosa this season which has seen them take the title of Portuguese Second Division - Central Champions and win promotion to the Portuguese Second League after finishing second behind Gondomar in the playoffs. A more adventurous approach this season has seen them score more goals than any other side in the league and they've won over many new fans with their exciting brand of football.

After the initial celebrations were over I had a chance to speak with division Manager of the Year Ricardo Chimenez and after congratulating him on the success, asked him what promted the change in strategy.

"Last summer one my scouts Guilherme Mesquita left me a note saying I really had to take a look at this player, Diego Lopes. I was a bit dubious at first because we had no place in the team for an attacking midfielder playing in the hole but the next day Guilherme saw me in person and told me I'd regret it if I didn't at least give him a trial. He staked his reputation on it !" said Chimenez. "So I met the lad and he trained with us and impressed everyone at the club. It was obvious we had to sign him and change the way we played a bit to get the best out of him."

The gamble of rebuilding the teams tactics just to suit the style of one man certainly paid off for Chimenez. Diego Lopes stayed fit and played his part in every game Pampilhosa played this season. The champions scored 60 goals this season, almost half of which were created or scored by Diego.
"He exceeded all our expectations" enthused Chimenez. "I'm wary of heaping attention on a lad his age but the 18 assists and 8 goals were obviously crucial to our successful season. He was a class above."

Many would say that Pampilhosa's biggest game this season was the 4-1 victory over Camacha which ultimately meant they gained promotion, but Chimenez says it was a different game that defined their season.
"It's hard to pick one game out as the defining moment, there was the win at Camacha in the playoffs but we wouldn't even have got to the playoffs if we hadn't won away at Mafra in January. Every game is important these days. If I had to pick one I'd choose our comeback against Torreense in March. We were 2-1 down with 5 minutes left and it looked like our title dreams could be over, then Lopes equalised and Valdinho scored the winner with seconds remaining. It was a cracking game with loads of chances and the manner of the win gave the players the belief they could do anything."

The squad will need to keep that belief with them next season when it will surely be an even tougher test just to stay up in the Portuguese Second League. If you haven't got your season ticket to watch them already you might be out of luck, with only a thousand capacity stadium and 700 season tickets already sold, chances to see Pampilhosa in action will be few and far between.

duccio - £1m in debt is quite considerable! Has it impacted anything behind the scenes? I've read of boards selling youth facilities to make up the shortfall.

We're about £350k in debt but have the chance to make a bit more money with a Coppa Italia run (fingers crossed). Anyway I just completed what will likely be my final signing of the year (until Jan at least).
Tiago Gomes. Will likely slot in at AMC but can more than do a job up front (he's rated the same as Natale). So this was a real coup.

A great landmark in Natale's career has just been reached - he's received his first cap for the Italian U21s. I'm delighted for him

I also sold Marco Rocchi to Chievo for £1.7M. Decided to cash in as he's still not managed to retrain to striker and I feel we have good cover there anyways. Nice profit on him. The unsettled Öztürk went on loan to Bucaspor. Hopefully that'll help him.

Not to happy about our goalkeeper situation. All 3 are promising, but none are quality yet. Also didn't really improve the defense much. Tagliani looks gold, but it's really the full backs we've been having issues with. Very happy with the options I have in midfield and attack now. Some very promising talents.

PS! As a side-note. Avignon sold Destro so we don't have to worry about him this season. That is unless we draw PSG in the cup. They signed him for £14.5M.

iacovone - You have loads of very skillfull players. You must be the early favourite for promotion!

Acqui's youth facilities were already rented when I took over. As far as I can see nothing has changed about any facilities, except the pitch is in very very bad condition. I think it may have an effect on how my team plays. Additionally I've had 3 matches postponed this season because the pitch has been waterlogged. One postponement may have been because of snow. But maybe there is a pragmatic approach to it - why do anything to improve the picth when new stadium will be ready for the next season?

This Clairefontaine you keep speaking of is that INF Clairefontaine? Cause they don't have a single real player in my game. And I have custom database "large" with players from top clubs in all continents selected.

iacovone - You have loads of very skillfull players. You must be the early favourite for promotion!

Acqui's youth facilities were already rented when I took over. As far as I can see nothing has changed about any facilities, except the pitch is in very very bad condition. I think it may have an effect on how my team plays. Additionally I've had 3 matches postponed this season because the pitch has been waterlogged. One postponement may have been because of snow. But maybe there is a pragmatic approach to it - why do anything to improve the picth when new stadium will be ready for the next season?

Of course, you're lucky to have a new stadium on the way. My pitch is equally embarrassing. We have one or two games per season called off too - essentially when it snows, it's cancelled!

Without giving too much away, I'm stunned by our start to the season. If this form is maintained we may make it back to back promotions. And if I do I'll be delighted - Serie C1 was always a glass ceiling for me on FM11 - at Treviso I think I lost two consecutive playoff finals in that division. I just couldn't get us into Serie B!

I have to say I'm so pleased with how this file has started. A couple of youngsters I've picked up (screenshotted earlier in the thread) are getting rave reviews by my assistant.

Carlo Cesena has 5 star potential and I'm told he could be a good Serie A midfielder in the future.

Giorgio Natale has the same potential to be a good Serie A striker and Rosati (the new recruit) is the same as Cesena. This is truly great news, I'll be able to have this core grow with the club (so long as they're not sold off!). This is the most satisfying side to FM for me

This Clairefontaine you keep speaking of is that INF Clairefontaine? Cause they don't have a single real player in my game. And I have custom database "large" with players from top clubs in all continents selected.

In my game thy have loads of players. Some players originating from Clairefontaine are playing in Serie A and I'm only in 2015.

sounds like you've got yourself some cracking youngsters there iacovone. as you say it does make a difference in terms of motvation to play a game when you have talented youngsters. Good to hear the new season has started well. with regards to finances, i too am now £1 million in debt in March of my first season. finances are a killer in the lower leagues this season!!

The first half of the season didn't go too well as we managed around the same as last season in almost all areas. After the winter break we started picking up points with 5 wins 1 draw and 1 defeat in the first 7 games. From that point on we stayed on course for a mid-table finish which was quite disappointing because we finished the season with 3 wins and 6 defeats in the final 9 games with only one defeat being more than 1 goal. Compared to last season we beat our points tally by 5, we scored 66 compared to 39 but conceded 69 up from 65. I am happy overall with the way the team played with the resources on offer, I only had 1 first team GK until January and hopefully with the players that are retiring I will be able to use the wages to get more defenders in to stop the ridiculous amount of goals flying in.

Yet again over the wage budget for the majority of the season, although in January I freed up around £3k after 3 players left. 35 year old Tomas Cizek left for £8k and 32 year old Valeriu Andronic left for £6k who had played only 3 games between them. Unfortunately I lost my 19 year old Russian U21 international Igor Lutovinov after my board accepted a £650k offer for him from Luch in the same division. I've only lost about £900k this season mainly due to the sale of Lutovinov otherwise it would have been more than last season, not really sure how to stop the rot, I had the second highest attendance to capacity % so i doubt that selling games out would help. The only way I could see the club breaking even is to not pay anybody anything.

GK'sPhilipp Serkov - Was the only choice in the first half of the season as I had no wages to be able to sign another goalkeeper until January. Played quite well for a player of limited quality, although he is supposed to get better.Vitaly Astakhov - Came in January, I signed him firstly because I only had 1 keeper and secondly because using Serkov took up a foreign player slot and therefore limited outfield options, the fans think he is brilliant but I'm not so sure.

DefendersEvgeny Sevastjanov - Quality young player, chipped in with 5 goals and only got 2 yellows over 30 league games. Hopefully he won't be sold from under my nose just like Lutovinov was.Pavel Mogilevskiy - Played well and chipped in with 4 goals, however, at 34 I think he will be going into his last season.

MidfieldersVyacheslav Filimonov - Played the second most games for the club this season, despite being told to drop him a few times for poor form, he is the best player on the left side of midfield.Tchocomar Sidibe - Due to the foreign player rule and injury didn't get to play as many games as I would have liked but looks a quality player and hopefully can play more next season.Armen Ambartsumyan - Played well but needs to add some more assists to his game.

StrikersWelkinho - Absolute hero, can do no wrong in my opinion. 23 goals and 17 assists in 35 league games which is even more amazing given his 9 game goaless streak. The fans love him and he is the only player on the favoured personell list, also the clubs highest ever goalscorer. Jabá - Played well and is a fantastic partner for Welkinho but could have scored some more before getting himself injured.

Cup

Won in the 5th round and then lost to a Prem team in the 6th, not really bothered.

Other

Youth candidates on the whole look rubbish yet again except possibly the Youth Player No2. Season tickets were up and average attendance is around the same as last year.

Well financially we are in a huge black hole, the club is in debt to the value of 468k, while the board over my two seasons in charge has invested a huge 830k into the club and we have still hemorrhaged money to the sum of 575k. I did try to stay below wage budget, but when for last season I had 15k+ and they cut it to under 12k and I had already organised a squad it made it really difficult. This is also the major reason why there were so few signings during the season, I may need to sell a few of the players off to try and make some money in an attempt to be able to be better off in the end. We also set the record for goals scored in the league wtih 8 games remaining. We dropped eleven places in the financial leaderboard, so that needs work, I am looking to get rid of all those on the borders of the team, use my youth where needed, they all performed well when called on. I need a change somewhere in defence, just not sure if the keeper is actually the problem, we allow too many shots on goal, yet my defenders both look solid. (Though Dumast may be too attacking and as such his defence may fall down a bit). I also noticed that we are clearly in the bottom half for our wage spend, and I am over budget so that may give a good reason why I can't get some of the top level players in the league.

The League

Again injuries affected our campaign as discussed in the Midseason update, we had a poor start, moved up into contention only to suffer a terrible run of injuries and fall back down the leaderboard until we sat in 10th after 10 games, this meant a battle to get our way back up. All season long our goalscoring was amazing, we scored 2.97 Goals per game, but we also conceded terribly. Though after the signing of a Defensive Mid our goals conceded dropped...Before Duillou (BD): 36 in 18 games (GAA: 2.00), After Duillou (AD): 30 in 20 games (GAA: 1.50), but also if you take out the games where we conceded more than 1 goal, if we went down I would attack more to try and get the goals back. So in games where we conceded >1 Goal: 54 Goals in 16 Games (GAA: 3.38) - While Games where we conceded 0-1 Goals: 12 Goals in 22 Games (GAA: 0.55). We also went 3-4-9 in the games we conceded >1 Goal, while 17-5-0 in games where we only conceded 1 or none. I really think I need to work on my tactics once we go down, of those 16 games we almost always went down 2-0 before we started an attempted fight back, there was only 2 cases where we scored first and in them we were up 3-0 in one and drew 4-4, and up 2-0 in the other and won 4-2. Going to look tactically at improving on how my team plays if we concede that first goal. The run to the end was tight and it took the final day for me to guarantee the playoff spot, while Valencia B managed to win the league on that final day as well. Well in the playoffs we drew Sestao, and in the home leg we managed a 3:1 victory, this looked good, but a travel to Sestao saw us fall apart and lose 4:0, the defense was just not there once more and it was another result that saw us not look good after conceding.

Bogdan Moldovan (ROM) - Well he had a good season, most of the time, but he really seemed to lose confidence if he conceded early or allowed 2 goals, and then we went on to concede 3,4 or even 9. Hopefully his confidence grows with experience. Conc: 68, CSht: 10.

Guilliaume Dumast (FRA) - The defensive leader, he is also involved on corners and as such seems to knock it in on a regular basis. It could be his marking letting us down on the defensive front, but his skills are needed for our team working forwards, especially his work with his head. 20G 0A.

Anthony Marin (FRA) - The second central defender, played as a good role as a true central defender. It seemed he was solid, but I really have no idea how we conceded so many goals as the defence was pretty good. 3G 0A.

Juan Francisco Aranda (ESP) - A solid season from the right back, but he also received our only red card in the league in the Playoffs, this really hurt our efforts in the second game as playing with 10 men when down 2-0 makes it really hard. 0G 3A.

Rodolfo Simoes (POR) - The young left back is turning himself into a star, he needs to be able to get back a bit quicker as the wingers have been skinning him down the side. I like his style of play though and will work to make him better, especially as he is clearly under our wage budget. 0G 6A.

Andre Gomes (POR) - He was lucky rather than good early on, and when we brought in Duillou he got the starters role because Alves was injured, he went on to have a damn good season, a great job as the more attacking minded player in the midfield. 5G 13A.

Bruno Guillou (FRA) - The mid season signing came in because I was worried about the goals being conceded, before he came we were conceding 2 goals a game, afterwards it dropped to 1.5 goals a game. This difference in itself was a major part, but he also was a solid anchor to lead the ball out of the back. 0G 0A.

Franck Grosjean (FRA) - The superstar of our midfield, Grosjean is the man taking our corners and free kicks, but mostly dominating the right side of the pitch in every game he plays. No one has been able to contain him as he runs down and crosses straight into the box. Assists and goals both in double figures, a miracle season. 18G 24A.

Taygun Kuru (TUR) - The weaker wing, but really he is still a star, Taygun has managed to make the spot his own, and with his crossing leading to goals, his only weakness is strength over the ball, he gets battled off it regularly. 3G 18A.

Miguel Herlein (POR) - While he suffered some major injuries this season keeping him out for a total of 18 weeks when he played he was a miracle worker, he was running through the defense and shooting with style (I will upload some of his goals from this season, they were stunning, he can run around players and perfectly place the ball. My superstar captain, we generally win with him in the team. 30G 5A.

Riccardo Vignali (ITA) - A great start to the season while we were missing Herlein he ruled the strikers roost, but he went a little down through the middle and then suffered a hip injury which put him out for 2-3 months, it took til nearly the very end of the season before he appeared back in the side again, but he finished well alongside Herlein, scoring and assisting. 22G 12A.

Emrah Yetgin (TUR) - The back-up once again made a large number of appearances as there were injuries to both our starters knocking them out of contention. He is clearly only a back-up, but he will be useful and probably stick around into the new season as well. Though I may look at selling him if I desperately need room under the cap. 9G 7A.

Not Entered this Season (Though I swear I asked to be included, will save shortly before season changeover this season and see if its a bug), I did end up arranging friendlies on a regular basis against lower league opposition, but really I want them in the U19s League and Cup as soon as I possibly can get them there.

Juame - YP2a (ESP) [DRL] - A new intake member, he still made two average appearances off the bench in an attempt to get some time in the senior side, and 4 youth side appearances. Looks like a very good prospect.

Ivan Vilches - YP1a (ESP) [MC/ST] - Well he got four games for the senior side with injuries, but he didn't really do anything other than the single assist he got. He did exactly what he needed to for the U19s as he scored 9 goals in 18 games.

Juan Carlos - YP2 (ESP) [AMC/ST] - The new Youth Project, he made a sub appearance for the seniors before the end of the season, but not much doing. Looks like an excellent prospect for attacking midfield role.

The History

A Statistic in the SpotlightThis section will highlight one club leaderboard, and show the top 10, plus the best of the current crop.

Well Herlein is really our goalscoring machine with 42 goals scored in 40(2) games for the clubs, Dumast, Grosjean & Vignali have all done brilliantly as well. Having three players score over 20 goals in the latest season has helped to boost this list, while Emrah has done most of his scoring as an injury replacement.

Well it appears that the wage budget will be dropping again, that is another 1k down, so it started at 15k in season 1 and has now dropped to 11.5k, I probably am going to be unable to sign players once more. I have also managed to get a new contract until 2017, this means I have 3 more years in which to get the club up.

Wow LLR that is a huge season review. Unlucky on not getting through the playoffs but hopefully you'll be able to get your keeper's confidence up before the next season starts. The finances are daft really as you just lose money in huge chunks while down below in Segunda B.

Doesn't look great, but as a poacher upfront he could be quite good. See what happens here, actually a solid U19 season there, and he managed to grab an assist in his 4 appearances in the first team. Looking forward to his development, especially as he is one of my best back-ups now with the lack of reserves and wage budget.

He actually has a chance at getting somewhere at this club, his current potential according to my AssMan is good enough to make the first team, or my bench. Well I didn't see anything in his two games so far, but he has good potential for the future, so Juan Carlos will move through as cover for the first team.

Can play with either foot, able to play both fullback roles, and has the potential to be as good as Carlos, looks like a clear cut second prospect for this season. A poor start to his career, but he will surely improve.

Wow LLR that is a huge season review. Unlucky on not getting through the playoffs but hopefully you'll be able to get your keeper's confidence up before the next season starts. The finances are daft really as you just lose money in huge chunks while down below in Segunda B.

Thanks Almondo, I do pride myself on the comprehensive reviews, takes a bit of time, but with templates, and practise I can do them easy.
Yeah the finances suck, I just hate that this edition it is seriously affecting my ability to sign players with it constantly cutting the wage budget. Makes it quite hard to get the promotion, I need to try and make it this time around or I will have to refresh the squad and try to find some other cheaper players.

I was not as busy this season in the transfer market as I had less space in the wage budget to play with. This was mainly due to several of my squad getting a 25% promotion salary increase (I had tried to remove or lower this clause when negotiating contracts but without success).

Most of the departures were fringe or youth players who had reached the end of their contracts. When bringing players in, I was looking for youth with potential (as always!) and players to bolster the defence, especially in the full-back positions. I also now had the chance to sign three U23 foreign players. The main new arrivals were as follows:

Aleksandar Tanasin (DR/AMR) – the first of my three foreigners to come in (although I later realised that as he’s already 23, he can’t stay with us beyond this contract!) His ability to play defence or further up on the wing gives us options on the right.Kamil Bolel (DR) – another option at right back with the potential to develop. He’ll be back-up for now.Ali Topal (DLC) – This guy came in on a free transfer. He’ll provide back-up in central defence for now but my coaches are tipping him to be a good Premier League defender in the future.Malkhaz Gagoshidze (DC) – my scouts and coaches say this guy is good enough for the top flight so I’m happy to have him now.Miroslav Krsko (DL) – my final U23 foreign signing. He has potential to be a Premier League quality player in the future so I hope we can get promoted before he reaches his 23rd birthday!Süleyman Çelikyurt (DL) – Krkso will compete with this guy for the left-back slot. Birol Hikmet (MC) – my squad is quite young so I was looking to add a bit of experience. That’s where this guy comes in. He’ll be mentoring youngsters and providing competition for Alican Karadağ in central middfield.

Been away for a day or so and i have so many posts to catch up on, amazing.

Continuing my end of season and have just received this surprise - Stadium Expansion (big financial risk and the pressure is on me to deliver!) and looking at the facilities screen now it shows that in 2 years time we are going to have a 9425 capacity stadium.

Stefano Pazzarelli - Città di Pontedera

PROMOTION! We did it! The gap between us and the chasing teams varied from 1 to 11 points, but thankfully they never caught us.
The team meeting feature came in handy when we started to lose easy matches and also having private chats with some of the instrumental players helped.

The Stars:

Francesco Zarini: Amazing season from the left back, making 15 assists - 10 of them or so from corners.

Giacomo Lepri: The attacking right winger scored some important goals and made som really nice solo raids. His finishing overall is woeful though, teaching him "look to pass rather than to score".

Jacopo Fortunato: Amazing and solid player. Functioned as a Deep Lying Playmaker and did well to balance our midfield and open up defences with smart passes in addition to being a good ball-winner.

Matteo Gandelli: Wall at the back and in addition scored 14 goals from IFK's and corners. The team looked significally worse when he and/or Fortunato didn't play.

Luigi Scotto: Top scorer, did what I expected really. Had some concerning dry spells but overall a good season. Devastated he damaged his knee ligament towards the end of last season, meaning he wont be able to play again before february/march or so.

Youth:

Jorge Soares : Brought this guy in on a free in January. Didn't get many chances for the first team but looking to give him a lot of playing time this season. Amazing determination and potential.

Simone Mariani : Arrived from last years youth intake, but struggling to improve as I have no decent tutors.

Pierangelo Fuser : From this years youthintake. Nice potential and hopefully I can get his mentals up.

Thoughts:

Really satisfied with how the team played defensively this season. Attacking-wise the team can gel a little better, however it will be hard with Luigi Scotto out for 3/4 of the next season.
Have signed some really nice talents and hoping they will improve and that we will survive our first season in the Serie C1/B league.

Went in the winter break in first place with Leipzig. Even with a few surprise results in the first half of the season things went well for me as i expected. Hard to fail in Thid Division with the budget Leipzig has. I expect the hard work to start after i achieve promotion.

My 1st impressions of the squad was that it had a lot of depth. But after looking at each player individually, what i have in depth i have equal amounts of dross. Going through the squad im only happy with 4 players. My G/k, 1 CB, 1 LB and my winger, who i would say is my best player Raul Pradas. So its safe to say i will be involved heavily in the transfer market.

Oh and i only have one scout contracted to the club currently. I must have forgot to tick 'add key staff'. Oh well! Its going to be an interesting season.

Stefano Pazzarelli - Città di Pontedera

After last seasons poor financial results our wagebudget had not increased at all, so we are now 3k £ above our budget.
Might perhaps need to loan in a few backups, but I am overall happy with this transferwindow.

New faces:

GK: Sergio - Brought this guy in practically on a free. Looks like a decent talent for this league, and if he's not too nervous etc I think he will play most games this season.
DC: Mattia Pagano - 18 year old new stopper, very talented. Satisfied I managed to get his wagedemands down to £625 p/w.
RB: Angelo Antonazzo - Experienced right back, will go straight in to the first team.
CM: Matteo Piccinini - Young and talented midfielder, glad he chose us over Serie B side Cremonese!
AMR: Hugo Lopes - Quick right winger with leading serie B potential according to my assistant.
AML: Giulio Grifon - Decent, nothing spectacular.
AMC: Daniele Bessa - This ex inter-prospect will go straight into the first team as trequarista.
ST: Robin Leger - If he plays anywhere near as good in the league as he did in preseason we won't miss Luigi Scotto at all! No decent back-up though.
Transfer overview

I will try to use the first formation that won me the league last season: First team / formation
Now that we have some more pace upfront in Robin Leger, a counterattack approach might be preferred in difficult games.

Just played out a spectacularly odd game. Lusitania Acores went off to Braga, they've been disappointing in the league this season so I thought I might have a shot at a point or more. 2-0 up after 16 minutes started to make me think it would be the latter, 2-2 after 24 made me waver. A third on 38 minutes gave me renewed hope; hope that was dashed on the brink of half time as Braga equalised again.

Thinking it might not be my day I told the lads they were doing well anyway and to carry on.

67 minutes in I took the lead again, and then on 73 I scored another. 5-3, looking comfortable again. 76th minute saw me concede a penalty, they scored it and it was 5-4. In the 81st minute I made it 6-4 hoping it would peter out from there. It wasn't to be, 87th minute they scored to make it 6-5 and put the pressure on again. Fortunately it finally calmed down and we won 6-5.

el sid - So annoying! I feel your pain - my chairman's just gone over my head to sell Davy Rog, a winger with excellent potential, for an even more paltry £275K. Anyone would think I was more than 500K in debt. Wait, what's that you say? I am? Oh, but still, he's worth more than that.

i've made it through to 8 games to go with Mannheim now. 3 more points make us mathematically safe which is important i guess but all about seeing where we can finish now. finances might mean we have a difficult summer though. for those playing in germany, is there any end of season prize money?

really struggling so far to get any kind of form going in the Russian First Division, although the players i have brought have definitely improved the squad...with that being said im winless after 6 games so far

really struggling so far to get any kind of form going in the Russian First Division, although the players i have brought have definitely improved the squad...with that being said im winless after 6 games so far

I feel your pain, my form is all over the shop at Armavir despite having players better than a lot of the teams we lose against

So with a massive transfer budget of £40, and wage budget of £7900, the transfer window was particularly difficult. However, i was able to pick up a few players who i believe add to the quality of the squad i have at my disposal.